In 2013, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) partnered with the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) to survey executives from both associations with the goal of better understanding the impact of computer crime and digital evidence on policing, as well as a clearer picture of state and local law enforcement’s awareness regarding these issues. The survey was expressly aimed at law enforcement executives to ensure the responses reflected the thoughts of leadership in the profession. The survey was structured to assess the knowledge and awareness of U.S. law enforcement executives in the following key areas:

the level of computer-related crime and presence of digital evidence in their jurisdictions;

the degree of agencies’ capabilities and adaptations to the proliferation of digital evidence;

the level of training for identification, collection, and preservation of digital evidence; and

the presence of agencies’ formal policies
for dealing with digital evidence.